New Head Start Rules Creating Uncertainties for Providers – Early Years – Education Week

In the coming weeks, the federal Office of Head Start expects to put out its first-ever official request for agencies to compete for funding to provide preschool services to poor children.

It’s a sea change in the Head Start world, where in most communities, the same nonprofit, school district, or other local public agency has long held a virtual monopoly on the federal dollars that pay for early childhood education for some of the most vulnerable kids. Today, I have a story on edweek.org that spells out some of the anxieties among the agencies and providers that must now prove they can meet new rules for quality in order to retain some or all of their funding. There are 132 of these agencies—including the two largest providers of Head Start services in New York City and Los Angeles—that will have to recompete to continue their funding this year.